Millions of people take birth, live their life to the fullest and perish. Very few live their name behind. Very few of these very few make their way to history pages. History pages are difficult to define. The names of Prime ministers and Chie ministers are recorded. Can a page giving their chronology called as History page ? Even the police keep history sheets of the criminals. Are these History pages ? We have dynasties ruling India and some other parts of the world. History painstakingly records their chronology. Is it history ? In fact present school of thought does not classify chronologies of dynasties and wars as history. Only those who make difference to societies are given a place in history page. You find Mahatma Gandhi on history pages even if he did not rule for a single day. The purpose of this introduction is to show how difficult it is to get into history box But that is not the aim of today’s blog.
The aim is to trace those who come out of history box and continue to influence the society even after their time has come to end. They are not necessarily rulers ( including democratic rulers like Churchill.). Rulers are forget as soon as they stop to rule. Some go into oblivion like Gorbachev before death. They may get into history box and remain their unnoticed till some scholar decides to do some research. I do not think of myself as historian like Boxwel or Yadunath Srakar or Rajwade. Nor I have any inclination to follow some person or some era. I simply want to tell about some people which resurface again and again after the death.
Che Gavera for instance. He has outdone Fiedel Castro who continued to live and rule for long time after the revolution. I do not know if today’s youth prefer him on their T shirts for the face or for his work. I hope it is latter.
Apart from rulers and politicians some people gain or continue to gain acceptance much after their death. Very few knew Keshavsut and very few cared. He got recognition as father of modern Marathi Poetry much later. So much frustrated was he that he has written that People will not know how I looked like but some time in future they will know about me by my lines. Similar fate had befallen even on Shakespeare. Balkavi Thombre would have remained a character from autobiography of Laxmibai Tilak, But the merit of his poetry gained recognition much after death. No other poet writing for children in Marathi come any where near him. Shree Saibaba of Shirdi was not a God in his life time. Only a awaliya. This recognition came much after his death.
Similat fate comes way of some music and songs. “ Vaishnav jan to”is written by Narsi Mehta but became popular after Gandhi. So much so that western musicians composed tune for it more than fifty years of Gandhi. “Lakh;ahkti Chanderi “ was a song from Prabhat pictures. Modestly popular at its time. Not like icon state it has achieved today. Lata Mangeshkar sand “Jay Jay Maharshtra Maza” fifty years back and again on golden jubilee celebration of Maharashtra state. Not sung by her for the first time even fifty year back. Jyotsnabai had already made it popular. Original poem was written by Kolhatkar neither for Jyotsnabai or Latabai. It achieved icon state much later.
The merit and explosion of communication media is playing important role in such magic tricks . Perhaps many more resurrections are in the offing.
Arvind Khare
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
DEATH CONNECTIONS
No. I am not going to write about features of death like murder, plot, killings etc.. Nor I am going to write about features of death like wars, mercenaries, revolutions and such social equivalent to features of death at individual level.
I cannot claim vast expanse of experience either time wise or space wise. Still with whatever small experience of life that passed my journey, strange phenomena has come to my notice. Just as people are connected by birth or by marriage they are also connected by death. The end of a being has such bonding impact on those who live behind.
I could look at the bond between the victims of 26/11 through their interviews. Its not necessary to come together and form some kind of forum for that. It’s a matter of emotional bond. I am sure the emotions of a war widow can be best understood by another war widow known or unknown. We have lost our young son. We immediately bond with others who have similar fate. It is Just like love at first sight. No introduction is needed. What is true about a husband or a son must also be true about other relations.
Some times death comes from unexpected quarters. Our assistant lost his life while on duty in my office. We were at loss as how to console his mother. To our surprise she thanked my wife for acting as his mother during last moments.
My wife lost her aunt at the ripe age of 90. She died as SUHASINI at that age. Her husband is 98 years old confined to bed but still breathing .Too frail to react. Just tears rolling down silently. The neck is dropped. One does not know weather due to grief or weakness. Is it a bond till the death does them apart? In contrast we come across instances of old patients on death bed counting last moments are removed from the bed and kept on cold floor so the last breath can be hurried.
My maternal uncle has some knowledge of astrology. He knew that he is going to loose one of his son. He had three sons one of whom is dumb. For no reason, he earmarked dumb son for early death. Did almost nothing to educate him. The destiny had something else in store. It was middle son brought up like regular child that died early. The uncle is no more and the dumb boy is now burden on his elder brother. Half knowledge ? Wishful thinking ?
Simple natural deaths with no foul play also have stories to tell. I am sure every one will have stock of them if looked for.
Arvind Khare
I cannot claim vast expanse of experience either time wise or space wise. Still with whatever small experience of life that passed my journey, strange phenomena has come to my notice. Just as people are connected by birth or by marriage they are also connected by death. The end of a being has such bonding impact on those who live behind.
I could look at the bond between the victims of 26/11 through their interviews. Its not necessary to come together and form some kind of forum for that. It’s a matter of emotional bond. I am sure the emotions of a war widow can be best understood by another war widow known or unknown. We have lost our young son. We immediately bond with others who have similar fate. It is Just like love at first sight. No introduction is needed. What is true about a husband or a son must also be true about other relations.
Some times death comes from unexpected quarters. Our assistant lost his life while on duty in my office. We were at loss as how to console his mother. To our surprise she thanked my wife for acting as his mother during last moments.
My wife lost her aunt at the ripe age of 90. She died as SUHASINI at that age. Her husband is 98 years old confined to bed but still breathing .Too frail to react. Just tears rolling down silently. The neck is dropped. One does not know weather due to grief or weakness. Is it a bond till the death does them apart? In contrast we come across instances of old patients on death bed counting last moments are removed from the bed and kept on cold floor so the last breath can be hurried.
My maternal uncle has some knowledge of astrology. He knew that he is going to loose one of his son. He had three sons one of whom is dumb. For no reason, he earmarked dumb son for early death. Did almost nothing to educate him. The destiny had something else in store. It was middle son brought up like regular child that died early. The uncle is no more and the dumb boy is now burden on his elder brother. Half knowledge ? Wishful thinking ?
Simple natural deaths with no foul play also have stories to tell. I am sure every one will have stock of them if looked for.
Arvind Khare
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
50 YEARS OF MAHARASHTRA STATE
1ST May 1960. The day state of Maharashtra was created out of erstwhile bi-lingual state of Mumbai. It was blinder to keep Bombay province in tact in reverence to British rule. No wonder the states of Maharashtra & Gujrat had agitation as legacy even before formation. Some body fought some body else hogged in credit. Fifty year celebration was carried in the same spirit to hijack credit. Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti which carried agitation was quickly confined to memory. Both the Congress ( which includes Rastravadi ) and the Shivsena ( which includes Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena ) had nothing to do with agitation. One championed bi-lingual state and others were simply not born. Yet both parties sought to gave impression of being father of the state. Absolutely absurd.
What is 50 years in the life of a state ? Infantile state of a state ? Never. What has separate statehood brought to its people ? Very little. The word Maharashtra itself is few century old. Some say its land of Marathi speaking people. Some say its land in which Mahar ( remember Mahar regiment in army ? ) caste can be found. Some poetic inclined say its land of Maha ie. Giant people. Whatever that may be but this land and its people had their own identity of language, history, literature, culture. The Marathi language is descent and transformation from Sanskrit like all other Indian languages. It can boast of literature history f over 700 years. Its legacy of Saints like Jneashwar, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram continues till today. Its cookery stile, folk dance and music forms like Lavani & Povada , its attire of nIne yards sari and such other distinguishing features are centuries old. Hindustani classical music is descended from Dehli but nourished here. Its Classical Dance is preserved in places like Tanjore This sate was but only briefly under alien ruler. It has given first generation of freedom fighter like Lokmanya Tilak. First generation tradition can be traced to Communism in S.A Dange and Dr. Ambedkar in Republican party of India. It was always been pioneer of new thoughts championed by stalwarts like Agarkar. Institutions like Prathna Samaj, Theosophist societies have roots here. Who can forget education to women and untouchables pioneered by Fuke and Karve. First Bronze ,edal in Olympics went to a Marathi wrestler Khashaba Jadhav as outcome of long tradition of Aakhadas. Most of them had already arrived and some gone from the scene long before 50 years. Entire fifty year of rulers added very little to what it already had as its glory. What contribution of present day rulers will enable them to find a place amongst illustrious names mentioned above ? Lata Mangeshkar may be. Sachin Tendulkar may be. But definitely not the rulers who felicitated them. They are pigmies occupying stage when giants have left.
But that is the strong point of Marathi Manoos through centuries. He never depended on the rulers. Rulers are seldom worth more than the names painted on the notice boards of their chambers. It is common Marathi manoos who becomes uncommon without aspiring to be one. Salute to him. The state is safe in his hand.
Arvind Khare
What is 50 years in the life of a state ? Infantile state of a state ? Never. What has separate statehood brought to its people ? Very little. The word Maharashtra itself is few century old. Some say its land of Marathi speaking people. Some say its land in which Mahar ( remember Mahar regiment in army ? ) caste can be found. Some poetic inclined say its land of Maha ie. Giant people. Whatever that may be but this land and its people had their own identity of language, history, literature, culture. The Marathi language is descent and transformation from Sanskrit like all other Indian languages. It can boast of literature history f over 700 years. Its legacy of Saints like Jneashwar, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram continues till today. Its cookery stile, folk dance and music forms like Lavani & Povada , its attire of nIne yards sari and such other distinguishing features are centuries old. Hindustani classical music is descended from Dehli but nourished here. Its Classical Dance is preserved in places like Tanjore This sate was but only briefly under alien ruler. It has given first generation of freedom fighter like Lokmanya Tilak. First generation tradition can be traced to Communism in S.A Dange and Dr. Ambedkar in Republican party of India. It was always been pioneer of new thoughts championed by stalwarts like Agarkar. Institutions like Prathna Samaj, Theosophist societies have roots here. Who can forget education to women and untouchables pioneered by Fuke and Karve. First Bronze ,edal in Olympics went to a Marathi wrestler Khashaba Jadhav as outcome of long tradition of Aakhadas. Most of them had already arrived and some gone from the scene long before 50 years. Entire fifty year of rulers added very little to what it already had as its glory. What contribution of present day rulers will enable them to find a place amongst illustrious names mentioned above ? Lata Mangeshkar may be. Sachin Tendulkar may be. But definitely not the rulers who felicitated them. They are pigmies occupying stage when giants have left.
But that is the strong point of Marathi Manoos through centuries. He never depended on the rulers. Rulers are seldom worth more than the names painted on the notice boards of their chambers. It is common Marathi manoos who becomes uncommon without aspiring to be one. Salute to him. The state is safe in his hand.
Arvind Khare
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
GOLDEN JUBILEE OF PUSHPAK
Sunday we had a Satya Narain Puja dedicated to golden jubilee of our home Pushpak. 50 long years that saw five generations till now. Laxmibai Jagannath Khare came from eldest generation followed by Manohar Jagannath Khare & Mangla manohar Khare who constructed the bungalow. The construction took about four months. We Mukund, Arvind, Anu & Sachhit Mnaohar Khare from third generation used to visit and play in the sands. Just like the way Salil, Jagdish & Suruchi did later on while extension was underway. Reema and Mana came after the bungalow has to come to its present stage. Rohan and Manas belong to fifth generation who have inherited share in the bungalow by virtue of birth. Asha, Ramaa and Jyoti have acquired it as Daughters in law. Mention must be made for Amrutrao Bhagwat and Amit Dhavale as sons in law.
1st May 1960 was the day when Pushpak bungalow was occupied by us. It was Akshay Trutiya of 1960 when we moved in the bungalow. One bed room was occupied by Aaji which also served as Devghar. She was a lady of small delicate frame. Her bed had to be extended to enable others to sleep on it. Other bed room was of course for Aai & Baba, We siblings used to sleep in the hall. The kitchen was built big. The measurement then was how many people can be seated in a row for lunch. Dining table made its entry quite later. More than dozen could seat in a row with folded legs on “ Paat ”. That too quite comfortably. We had a washing place with shed over it near back door entry of Kitchen. All washing and scrubbing would be done there.
The best thing Baba did was not to let any part of house on the rent. We could add to the original four room ground floor bungalow as and when need came. Nevertheless Baba magnanimously invited many to stay in this bungalow in the forming years of their career and life. Pushpa Tamahankar, Usha Jog, Shrikant Khare, Viswas Dabholkar, Rajamama Gondhalekar, are some names coming to my mind. That was the ascending time for Pushpak when occupants grew in numbers. Two dogs Tipu and Ceazar lived full life here. A feat achieved only by Salil amongst human. Others were either born outside or died outside.
Initially the house was seldom without Guest / s. Slowly things began to change. The guests stopped coming. Anu and Suruchi got married. Salil died pre-matured. Jagdish went to America. Now it resembles old age home. The only grace is the office of Amit. The diminishing game of occupants will continue for sometime and then would come the end of Pushpak.
Another building will come with another set of occupants and another set of pathos. The picture coming before my eyes is a green field where Baba constructed Pushapak. That field will never come back. Now its turn of miniscule of civilizations making way for the layers of few inches of earth ( read as rabbit ). Regrets ? None whatsoever ! That is the way life goes. Every thing born has to die. Whether it is a person or a building makes no difference. Enjoy while it goes
Arvind Khare
1st May 1960 was the day when Pushpak bungalow was occupied by us. It was Akshay Trutiya of 1960 when we moved in the bungalow. One bed room was occupied by Aaji which also served as Devghar. She was a lady of small delicate frame. Her bed had to be extended to enable others to sleep on it. Other bed room was of course for Aai & Baba, We siblings used to sleep in the hall. The kitchen was built big. The measurement then was how many people can be seated in a row for lunch. Dining table made its entry quite later. More than dozen could seat in a row with folded legs on “ Paat ”. That too quite comfortably. We had a washing place with shed over it near back door entry of Kitchen. All washing and scrubbing would be done there.
The best thing Baba did was not to let any part of house on the rent. We could add to the original four room ground floor bungalow as and when need came. Nevertheless Baba magnanimously invited many to stay in this bungalow in the forming years of their career and life. Pushpa Tamahankar, Usha Jog, Shrikant Khare, Viswas Dabholkar, Rajamama Gondhalekar, are some names coming to my mind. That was the ascending time for Pushpak when occupants grew in numbers. Two dogs Tipu and Ceazar lived full life here. A feat achieved only by Salil amongst human. Others were either born outside or died outside.
Initially the house was seldom without Guest / s. Slowly things began to change. The guests stopped coming. Anu and Suruchi got married. Salil died pre-matured. Jagdish went to America. Now it resembles old age home. The only grace is the office of Amit. The diminishing game of occupants will continue for sometime and then would come the end of Pushpak.
Another building will come with another set of occupants and another set of pathos. The picture coming before my eyes is a green field where Baba constructed Pushapak. That field will never come back. Now its turn of miniscule of civilizations making way for the layers of few inches of earth ( read as rabbit ). Regrets ? None whatsoever ! That is the way life goes. Every thing born has to die. Whether it is a person or a building makes no difference. Enjoy while it goes
Arvind Khare
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